Russia 2018 is best watched World Cup – FIFA

A record audience of more than 3.5 billion people watched this
year’s World Cup in Russia, with the final between France and Croatia
attracting 1.12 billion viewers, world soccer’s governing body said on Friday.

FIFA said 3.572 billion viewers – more than half of the
global population aged four and over – watched some part of the official
coverage, which was broadcast live in every territory worldwide from June 14 to
July 15.

The global in-home TV audience watching at least one minute
of the coverage accounted for almost 3.3 billion viewers, a 2.2 per cent
increase on the 2014 edition hosted in Brazil, according to FIFA’s audit of
audience data published on Friday.

A further 309.7 million caught the action on digital
platforms, public viewing areas or in bars and restaurants.

France’s 4-2 victory in the final, which gave them their
second World Cup title following their triumph in 1998, was the most watched
game of the competition.

It was followed by England’s semi-final defeat to Croatia
and the other last-four clash between France and Belgium.

“These figures really do support the claim that Russia 2018
was the best World Cup ever,” said FIFA’s chief commercial officer, Philippe Le
Floc’h.

“The fact that half the world’s population watched the FIFA
World Cup reflects not just the high quality of our award-winning live
coverage, but also that fans everywhere are insatiable for world-class
football.”

The World Cup coverage reached around 1.6 billion
individuals in Asia, with 655.7 million viewers (18.4 per cent of the global
total) in China, who failed to qualify for the tournament.

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